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Anadolu Efes got back to winning ways, after defeating Asvel in Round 17 of the Turkish Airlines 78-72.
Vasilije Micic was the top scorer of the winning side with 22 points, but Will Clyburn got 15 points and the highest PIR of 21.
“We didn’t play the first half so badly like the result said. We were stiff and hesitated a lot, but in the second half we knew we had to put in extra effort every time, they are a very talented team with the creative De Colo. Important win for us“, Micic said after the game.
Efes had control for the first couple of minutes, but Asvel changed the gear midway through the first quarter and turned the game around with an 11-2 run. The guest went to the first break with a 19-17 lead, but the Istanbul team got back the lead at the beginning of the second period. That didn’t last, with the French team making another 11-2 run, and finishing the first half with a 36-29 lead.
The guests even went to a double-digit advantage in the third quarter, but Efes started putting pressure on them in the final minutes, trimming the deficit to six points before the final break. Micic and Clyburn took over in the last 10 minutes. Efes broke the resistance of Asvel with a huge 18-2 run and won the game.
“I can’t say that we played good basketball tonight, but in the second half, especially in the last quarter, we put in aggressive defense, and we changed the turnover statistic. In the first half, we made eight turnovers, in the second, we pushed them to make a lot of turnovers, especially with great defense against De Colo with Bryant Dunston, and finally, we found our rhythm. Micic started finding open shots, we broke the game and found a victory,” coach Ataman said.